One of our favorite people, Anne Rice, has just announced that she is writing the next book in the Vampire Chronicles, a sequel to Queen of the Damned, to be called Prince Lestat. We are completely thrilled by this news as we feel that Lestat is far and away the sexiest of the vampire set and eagerly anticipate new tales of his latest exploits. As such, we thought we’d have a little lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek fun (or would that be fang-in-cheek?) by listing the top ten reasons why the Brat Prince stars in our dreams more often than any other of his kind.

(Note: We are not hating on any of the other vampire franchises. The comparisons below are intended in the spirit of fun.)

1. He’s a sharp-dressed man. Er…undead man.

Few men can pull off the velvet topcoat over lacy cuffs without appearing the fop, but those who can? Niiicccce.

(Warner Brothers)

2. He’s a gentleman of the evening.

Patti Smith had it right: the night belongs to lovers. And proper vampires only come out at night. While the daytime sparkle explanation in Twilightrespectably creates its own mythos, the night is nevertheless still sexier. Sparkles are for arts & craft classes; darkness is for lust and romance!

(Summit Entertainment)

3. He’s well-educated.

Lestat is continually seeking to learn wisdom from the ancients. Smart is waaay more sexy than thuggish, self-satisfied Vikings, such as True Blood’s Eric Northman. Does anybody fantasize about Hägar the Horrible? I didn’t think so!

(King Features Syndicate, Inc.)

4. He’s French.

Paris is for lovers. Forks, Washington is for… salmon.

(via thecabinet.com)

5. He’s older and more experienced.

We prefer our inamorati to have been properly aged. Those Vampire Diariesimps make us want to ask for IDs.

(Warner Brothers)

6. He’s a rebel.

Lestat has earned the title the Brat Prince, and we go for the bad boy, not the squeaky clean Edward Cullen. This is the same as Luke Skywalker versus Han Solo. Notwithstanding the fact that Leia was Luke’s sister, it was obvious that he liked her (before he knew). But who did Leia end up with? Bad boy Han, of course! Luke was relegated into the friend zone, as nice guys usually are. *Wink*.

(20th Century Fox)

7. He has refined tastes.

Lestat sets his Garden District New Orleans household up in style. None of these moldy crypts for him!

(via www.panoramio.com)

8. He’s a rock star.

In The Queen of the Damned, Lestat forms a rock band in which he is the lead singer. Edward Cullen plays classical piano. Tell me, who floats your boat, Liberace…

(via www.unclebarky.com)

…or David Lee Roth?

9. He mixes with royalty.

Lestat has been a consort to the Queen of the Damned herself. Those True Bloodvamps all seem to be chasing after the barmaid with the slightly bovine name, Sookie.

(HBO)

10. He has been to hell and back. Literally.

In Memnoch the Devil, Lestat nearly gets coerced into being the caretaker of the underworld. We like a man who has been through the fire and has managed to escape with nary a tail feather singed. What panache!

(Warner Brothers)

So, bring it on, Anne Rice! We can’t wait to hear what Lestat has been up to!

Andrea is a consultant and technical writer for various scientific software and instrumentation companies. She has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Berkeley and has never met a genre of music or books that she hasn’t liked. As a gamer since the days of the Apple II, Andrea can relate any number of hair-raising tales about role-playing games stored on 360 kB 5.25” floppy disks and may, someday, put them to paper.